This invention relates generally to the printing of forms, and, more particularly, to a means for carrying preprinted business forms into laser printers, and the like.
The computer and related technology industries have provided consumers with a variety of printing devices over recent years. Whether the printing device is a computer peripheral or a stand alone device, the printing device's primary function is to convert data into a permanent medium. The type of permanent medium depends upon the type of printing device. A dot matrix tractor feed printing device is commonly used as a peripheral to a computer. The tractor feed printer uses continuous paper as the permanent medium, the paper having border line pin holes for placement over the tractor feed mechanism. After printing, this paper must be separated if conformance to conventional 81/2".times.11" size paper is desired. The high speed and continuous feed characteristics of the tractor feed printing device lends itself to printing upon preprinted business forms such as bank drafts, checks, sales agreements, invoices, purchase orders, and the like.
The current trend in the computer and related technology industry is to use laser printing devices that produce a quality of print not possible with dot matrix tractor feed printers. The laser printing devices print on conventional sized paper with automatic feeding of the paper at speeds comparable to tractor feed printers using continuous feed paper.
As consumers acclamation to the higher quality laser printer is heightened, the demand for laser printers to perform the printing of preprinted forms in place of printing by lower quality dot matrix tractor feed printers becomes apparent. The problem, which the present invention addresses, is that current laser printers utilize friction rollers for a mechanical feed system to draw forms into the laser printer. Friction rollers do not provide continuous form contact due to their circular design leaving spaces between rollers in which improperly sized sheets can stray causing jams or misalignment. Laser printer manufactures are aware of this problem and publish recommended minimum sheet lengths and widths to prevent paper jams or misalignment, however, not all preprinted forms can conform to the manufacturers recommendation. Further, if only a portion of a preprinted form is printed upon and the form is sequential, the remainder of the form cannot be discarded. For example, payroll checks can be purchased for use on a Hewlett Packard IIP LaserJet printer (4) checks are preprinted on a single 81/2" width.times.11" length piece of paper but only two (2) checks are used, the remaining checks would be 81/2" width.times.51/2" length which is below the minimum 71/2" length recommended by Hewlett Packard. The current solution is to type out the checks manually, a solution that by-passes the reason for computer check printing and the automatic accounting process available with the service. An attempt to disregard the manufacturers minimum length recommendation by placing the remaining checks into the LaserJet is likely to cause a paper jam or misalignment of the checks. The end result is probable destruction of the checks causing waste of paper, operator time, and check sequential accountability problems.
The aforementioned problem is not limited to business forms, as demonstrated by the laser printer manufacturers method of envelope printing. Due to the small size of envelopes, laser manufacture's utilize special trays to rotate the envelope 90 degrees so that the envelope enters the printer in a lengthwise direction preventing paper jams due to the small size of the envelope. In addition, the printer is required to print in a 90 degree or "landscape" orientation as the envelope is now rotated. To print in such a fashion the operator must input commands to deviate from the normal portrait position or learn how to use optional programming commands in word processing programs. WordPerfect or WordStar are two such programs that have special functions for printing envelopes due to the required rotation.
The problems associated with laser printers can be found on nearly every printing device that utilizes friction rollers. For instance, a machine copier such as the Xerox copier with an automatic feeder employs friction rollers. When small items, such as a single check, are machine copied the operator is usually limited to manual placement of the check upon the lens in lieu of using the automatic feed option commonly limited to conventional sized paper.
Yet another friction roller printing device is the facsimile machine. If a small item is to be sent through the device, an operator usually makes a Xerox machine copy so the item can be fed through the multiple page feeder. Placement of a small item in the automatic feeder usually results is a paper jam.
The problems described are those which plague the use of friction roller printing devices. While extensive efforts have been made toward effectively and simply resolving these problems, no satisfactory solution has heretofore been provided. My invention is specifically designed to overcome the aforementioned friction roller feed problems and further withstand the rigors of laser printer operation. It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of these problems that the present invention is directed.